Though it is the second largest wine-producing area in the United States, the wines of Washington state remain an un-sampled commodity to many wine drinkers.  The Washington wine industry was in the unfortunate position of trying to get itself off of the ground when the popularity of Californian wine exploded in the late 1970’s.  Ever since, the wines of Washington have been viewed as something of an afterthought.  Increasingly though, the wines of Washington are getting the credit that they deserve.  Washington, and the Columbia Valley especially, contain some of the most intriguing vineyard sites anywhere, and each passing vintage brings a better, and more delicious, understanding of how great these wines can be.

Columbia Valley
The Columbia Valley, in eastern Washington, is the hub around which Washington wine making spins.  Sheltered by the Cascade Mountains, the Columbia Valley receives less than 8 inches of rainfall annually, which means that winemakers, through irrigation, have extensive control over the ripeness, and intensity of flavor, in their grapes.  A wide range of climatic conditions across the Valley allow local vintners to grow specific grapes in those areas best suited to their needs.  Washington’s largest growing zone, the Columbia Valley actually holds six distinctive sub-regions within it’s borders.  Of the 6 sub-divisions within the Columbia Valley, there are three that no self-respecting wino should miss out on.

Walla Walla
Of all of Washington’s growing areas, the Walla Walla Valley is the hippest.  Like awkward kids flocking to Seattle to form bands circa 1991, Walla Walla has been flooded with young winemakers trying to get a piece of one of the most compelling growing areas anywhere.  Though it now houses well over 100 wineries, a scant 15 years ago Walla Walla had just 7.  The region’s hot, dry summers produce richly-flavored fruit, while unusually cool autumns allow for more time on the vine: infusing the grapes with complexity and depth.  The coolest winemaker in Walla Walla, (and just about anywhere else for that matter), is Charles Smith, whose wines are as affordable as they are tasty.  If, however, you’re trying to impress your date with something special we recommend you check out Spring Valley Vineyards, who make some of the region’s most outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon.

Red Mountain
The Red Mountain district produces some of the best wines in all of Washington.  First planted in 1975, the Mountain is now home to a handful of wineries that wrest powerful, dynamic fruit out of the soil, under desert-like conditions.  Red Mountain, with it’s warm, sunny days and cool nights, is perfect for growing slow-ripening varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling.  Wines made from Red Mountain fruit are famous for their expressive aromas, rich fruitiness, and balance.  Kiona Vineyards, who first pioneered the region, offer fantastic quality and value, but those with money to burn should check out the wines of Col Solare, a collaboration between the massive Washington winery Chateau Ste. Michelle and Italian powerhouse Piero Antinori.

Horse Heaven Hills

Red Mountain, Washington State – $15

Strolling the aisles of your local wine shop, you’ll pass the usual suspects: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Lemberger, Zinfandel….wait, what the hell is Lemberger?

Originally hailing from Central and Eastern Europe, Lemberger (lem-burger) is one of those wine grapes that never got much attention. However, the great state of Washington has become a hotbed of Lemberger production in the US.

Kiona Vineyards, at the base of the Red Mountain in southern Washington, first pioneered production of the grape in 1980. The abundant sunlight, cool nights, and sandy soils of the region make for a long growing season; a natural fit for the late-ripening Lemberger. And because the folks at Kiona had the foresight to purchase land on the mountain before it became crazy expensive, they can swing one of the best values coming out of the Northwest!

This medium-bodied wine is spicy with juicy blackberry fruit that makes for a genius BBQ pairing. And at $15 you can afford to be the baddest wino at your next party by bringing the one grape that no one else is sure to bring.

Sip on this wine at Wine Riot with some of the killer BBQ-ed offerings from Red Bones!

Marlborough, New Zealand – $16

In a perfect world, all of us would go home after an easy day at work and enjoy a gourmet meal expertly paired with the perfect wine and served to us by an underwear model-in-residence. Sadly, you’re not Tom Brady. Because dinner is usually a haphazard affair it’s imperative that any self respecting wino have a few bottles in their booze arsenal that can weather any culinary storm.

Though Paul Giamatti’s maniacal rant in Sideways made California Pinot (in)famous, our pick for quality, food friendly, and versatile Pinot Noir comes from New Zealand. Despite having only 30 years of experience with this varietal under their belts, the Kiwis are now producing some of the most accomplished Pinot Noir in the world.

Matua Valley is one of the New Zealand’s seminal wineries and at around $15, they offer one of the country’s most affordable Pinots. Their 2008 vintage boasts the fresh plum flavors that have become the calling card of this vino. And, its finely honed acidity makes it BFF with everything from pâté to pizza.

Drink liberally with salmon sushi rolls, a wedge of creamy brie or microwaved leftovers and whatever’s on the DVR.

We know how confusing Italian wine can be, so that’s why we, at The Second Glass, have teamed up with Rocca Kitchen and Bar, in Boston’s South End, to teach you about these wines the best way possible: with food! You get six different wines with three tasty pairings of food and a whole lot of vino knowledge for only $30!

Montepulciano? Soave, Dolcetto, Barbaresco!?!? Don’t sweat it, after this Crash Course you’ll be a pro!

Second Glass President and Editor, Tyler Balliet, will be running the Course and walking you through the wines. We’ll even hook you up with an Italian cheat sheet and a copy of our Annual Wine Guide.

Buy your tickets today because there are only 35 seats available and these events tend to sell out fast! Rocca is a long time favorite spot of ours, check out the write up Tyler did on them last year.

Menu: Coming soon!

Where: Rocca Kitchen and Bar [500 Harrison Avenue, South End, Boston MA 02118]
When: Tuesday, March 30 at 7:00 PM
Cost: $30

Languedoc, France – $15

France’s association with great wine is stamped onto our consciousness as surely as is the knowledge that Santa Claus is fat or the Tooth Fairy creepy. Too often, though, wine buyers assume that this connection means that they can’t drink French wine because it’s too hard to understand, too pretentious, too expensive, etc. But at it’s core, French wine is none of these things: it’s all about simple, everyday drinking.

Based in the sunny, rustic Languedoc growing region, Gerard Bertrand has been producing approachable, inexpensive, and most important, killer, vino for the better part of two decades. The son of a vineyard owner, Bertrand is a champion of the idea that wine is not about obscurity and pretense. His are wines to be drunk with gusto: drink’em now and drink’em often.

The coolest wine in M. Bertrand’s portfolio is sourced from the windy little district of Pic Saint-Loup. A blend of the Languedoc’s four traditional grapes, (Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan and Grenache), this is a no-foolin’, baller bottling for half the price of most of the wines from this region. Look for notes of blueberries and savory, meaty herbs. This wine is a food lovers best friend, so make sure you find yourself some grub before you pop the cork on this guy.

Drink liberally with roast pork, bunny rabbit, or your favorite root vegetables at your next dinner party.

Maipo Valley, Chile – $10

There’s nothing like the thrill of discovery. Whether you are machete-chopping through uncharted jungle or finding the last pair of perfect boots (on sale! in your size!!) it’s the feeling that keeps you coming back for more and finding wine treasures will give you that same rush!

If ever there was ever a winery just waiting to be discovered, Porta Winery is it. Like David Hasselhoff is in Germany, Porta is HUGE in Japan. Porta is a behemoth in Asia’s wine markets and incredibly successful in the UK but has thus far failed to garner much attention here in the States. Their relative obscurity means treasure-seeking wine buyers like you can grab a bottle from one of Chile’s coolest wineries for a Hamilton.

Our current favorite is their 2008 Porta Reserva Carmenére. An old French grape once thought lost, Carmenére is the vehicle driving Chilean wine into the mainstream since its rediscovery there in the early 90s. Expect to find lots of tart, purple-hued fruit, along with the notes of tobacco and cocoa that have made Carmenére famous.

Drink liberally with cheeseburgers, pizza, and anything involving bacon.

Back in 2006 when Second Glass was founded our design budget was low and we went through several iterations of logos. We were trying to search for a brand and logo that showed the world who we were. We wanted a logo that made us look like who we were, a company that was young, empowering, doing something different for the typical wine scene, and at our core about wine, people, learning and having fun.

After going through a few different logos in our first few months, we decided on a logo that lasted three years. But as time passed we realized more and more how tricky it was to build a brand off that particular logo.

In 2009 we started working with Holly Gordon and really began building a consistent design, but it seemed more and more like we had to work to incorporate our logo into things — instead of drawing inspiration from it. While working on branding for our event Wine Riot, we ended up having two logos on printed materials, one for Wine Riot and one for Second Glass, which was confusing and did not help sell people on our brand.

Luckily enough in the beginning of 2010 Greenhorn Connect posted the open office hours for Alphabet Arm Design, a logo and design team based in Boston’s South End. Our entire staff loves Alphabet Arm’s work so we were excited to get a chance to chat with Aaron, President and Head Designer, for about 15 minutes, free of charge. In the meeting we discussed our problems and listened to Aaron explain how important it was to have a STRONG main logo that would easily build a “family” of designs around it, so that everyone was aware it was from the same company. After a week or so of letting the idea kick around in our brains, we decided Aaron had been right in his consulting – we needed a new logo to build our brand around.

The team at Alphabet Arm listened to what we were looking for in a logo, checked out the wine logo landscape and gave us several versions that we were able to look through and refine to exactly what fit us. They were really easy to work with and they knew when to stay strong on their ideas and when to listen to what we wanted.

YAY for our new logo that can stand alone BUT also works when incorporated with Wine Riot and all of our other projects!

Crash Course Wine Seminars are back for the New Year and they’re better than ever. Whether you’re a celebrated wino or new to wine altogether, we have a slew of courses coming up designed to turn you and your friends into total wine badasses. As a special gift, we’ll be giving out our annual Wine Guide for free to all attendees of Crash Courses! With 210 wines at your fingertips, you’ll have a go-to guide for selecting anything from the perfect bottle for your boss to the red that will impress your date for sure.

As usual, our goal is to empower you, the drinker, with more knowledge about wine by way of expert education and tasty sips. We are working with the top names in wine that Boston has to offer to bring and fun, informative and most importantly, completely unpretentious wine class. All Crash Courses are $10 a person, and include 4-6 different wines to taste, Cabot cheese and a whole lot of expert knowledge.

Get Your Learn On!

Jeff Golden, the hilarious and awesome Wine Buyer at Downtown Wine & Spirits, along with experienced Second Glass Staffers, will bust knowledge and pour glasses of great vino.

Where: Downtown Wine & Spirits [225 Elm St, Somerville, MA]

When: Wednesday, March 31st from 7-8pm

Cost: $10

Crash Course Wine Seminars are back for the New Year and they’re better than ever. Whether you’re a celebrated wino or new to wine altogether, we have a slew of courses coming up designed to turn you and your friends into total wine badasses. As a special gift, we’ll be giving out our annual Wine Guide for free to all attendees of Crash Courses! With 210 wines at your fingertips, you’ll have a go-to guide for selecting anything from the perfect bottle for your boss to the red that will impress your date for sure.

As usual, our goal is to empower you, the drinker, with more knowledge about wine by way of expert education and tasty sips. We are working with the top names in wine that Boston has to offer to bring and fun, informative and most importantly, completely unpretentious wine class. All Crash Courses are $10 a person, and include 4-6 different wines to taste, Cabot cheese and a whole lot of expert knowledge.

Get Your Learn On!

Jeff Golden, the hilarious and awesome Wine Buyer at Downtown Wine & Spirits, along with experienced Second Glass Staffers, will bust knowledge and pour glasses of great vino.

Where: Downtown Wine & Spirits [225 Elm St, Somerville, MA]

When: Wednesday, March 17th from 7-8pm

Cost: $10

There is plenty of time to drink green beer after our tasting, so pregame with us and learn about how thousands of vineyards worldwide are owned by the Irish, brush up on Organic and Sustainable wine and finally get the lowdown on Vino Verde (Green Wine) from Portugal.

Crash Course Wine Seminars are back for the New Year and they’re better than ever. Whether you’re a celebrated wino or new to wine altogether, we have a slew of courses coming up designed to turn you and your friends into total wine badasses. As a special gift, we’ll be giving out our annual Wine Guidefor free to all attendees of Crash Courses! With 210 wines at your fingertips, you’ll have a go-to guide for selecting anything from the perfect bottle for your boss to the red that will impress your date for sure.

As usual, our goal is to empower you, the drinker, with more knowledge about wine by way of expert education and tasty sips. We are working with the top names in wine that Boston has to offer to bring and fun, informative and most importantly, completely unpretentious wine class. All Crash Courses are $10 a person, and include 4-6 different wines to taste, Cabot cheese and a whole lot of expert knowledge.

Get Your Learn On!

Jeff Golden, the hilarious and awesome Wine Buyer at Downtown Wine & Spirits, along with experienced Second Glass Staffers, will bust knowledge and pour glasses of great vino.

Where: Downtown Wine & Spirits [225 Elm St, Somerville, MA]

When: Wednesday, March 3rd from 7-8pm

Cost: $10

Just like Lance we’ll tear through the French countryside, sail over the mountains and drink our way coast to coast. While the country isn’t huge each region makes very different styles of wine. We’ll cruise the major regions and can guarantee you’ll leave with a much better understanding of the most famous wine country in the world.